MOVING TO HAWAIITips and suggestions for making the big move

First Things First -- Finding Your Dream Home

If you're planning to move someplace, naturally you should find a place to live first. Generally there are two ways to go about it. One way is demonstrated by a family we hosted in one of our vacation rentals. They bought one-way tickets from their home in Chicago and stayed with us for six months while they found a house to buy.

The other way is our own approach to finding our dream home. We planned a 10 day vacation/house buying adventure in April, 2003. We searched the local MLS listings and found about 10 homes we wanted to look at during our visit. We contacted a local Real Estate agent, told her what we were looking for and gave her the MLS numbers we wanted to look at. It's important to tell the agent you're working with what you are looking for in a home because they might show you something that you missed online. That's what happened to us. The house we ended up buying was found by our agent. It wasn't on our list because it was 4 square feet smaller than the criteria we were searching on in the MLS listings. A good agent is imperative!

By the way, an update on the family that stayed with us for 6 months: They purchased a new construction home that was set to be completed on July 5th, 2005. As of December 27th their home still hasn't been completed. Update: They moved into their new home Spring of 2006.

Recommended Reading

Finding a Good Real Estate Agent

If possible use a Real Estate agent referred by someone you trust. Your agent will be your eyes and ears in the buying process, especially important if you still live off-island. We used Denise Nakanishi and Mealoha Kraus and we recommend them highly. Mention our name and she will send you a relocation pack if you are thinking of moving to the Big Island.

The seller has accepted your offer, now what do you do?

Here is where good planning becomes critical. First of all, what is your time-line for moving to Hawaii? For us, our home closed escrow in early July but we didn't make the move until late August. We could have moved in July but decided to wait until August because that was when our dogs were allowed into the State. Knowing your move date affects all your other planning so make sure you have a good idea when that will be.

If you have pets and you want to bring them with you, you have to deal with Hawaii's Animal Quarantine Laws. Of all the things we had to do to get ready for our move, dealing with the quarantine regulations was the biggest headache. I'll get more into this subject below.

On one of our first visits to Hawaii we received this advice from someone who had just moved there: "Sell everything you have before your move because you always bring too much." Let me echo that advice. You can buy everything you'll need here so there's no need to ship all your belongings. Before we moved we got rid of 95% of all that we had. The biggest thing we shipped was our car, but we did that only because it was less than two years old. The rest I shipped Parcel Post in 35 boxes. Remember that Parcel Post is the cheapest way, but also takes the longest. About 4-6 weeks. So what I did was first rent a PO Box at the Airport Branch Post Office (808) 933-3019. Give them a call and they will send you an application for a PO Box. The Keaau branch was closer to our new home but they didn't have any boxes available.

Once we were assigned a PO Box, I started shipping boxes to my new address. The Post Office will hold onto your packages for several weeks, so don't start mailing your boxes more than 2 months before your move. I would ship 2 or 3 boxes at a time so it was easier for me to manage getting them to the post office by myself. When we arrived I made sure to rent a van because I knew I had a lot of boxes waiting for me at the Post Office.

Also check out the Moving Q&A sectionfor answers to our readers' questions

Shipping Your Car

When we shipped our car in 2003 there was only Matson and it cost us $995 to ship to Hilo from Long Beach. Recently a new car shipper, Pasha, started servicing the islands and the cost has gone down slightly to $899. We shipped a minivan but we found out we couldn't stuff the interior with boxes because of the liability issue. You can track your car's progress across the ocean via Matson's web site. I don't know if online tracking is available on Pasha. It took about 3 weeks for the car to arrive. It was hard to get an accurate arrival date because they say your car might not get on the next ship out, depending upon how many other cars are being shipped, both from the mainland, and also from Honolulu. It was a happy day indeed when our car arrived. A company you may want to check out is American Auto Movers, especially if you don't live near the west coast. Another alternative is A1 Auto Transport.

Bringing Rover on Over - Hawaii's Pet Quarantine Laws

Give yourself at least 6 months to comply with Hawaii's strict quarantine laws. Up until June of 2003 Hawaii had a 30 day quarantine of all pets entering the state. Legislation was passed allowing what they call airport release - if all of Rover's paperwork is in place you can take your pet home with you from the airport. If not your pet has to stay at least 30 days in a certified kennel for rabies observation. I've blocked out from my mind most of the requirements so I can't tell you exactly what you need to do. Full information is available here.

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